They've experienced some lineup instability -- Barlow was kicked out in 1989 and Murph in 1991, reducing the band to "J Mascis + other dudes". Mascis eventually retired the name in 1997, but the original lineup got back together in 2005 and has recorded two more albums.

Influenced by [[PunkRock Hardcore Punk]], [[HeavyMetal Metal]], [[HardRock Classic Rock]] and [[AlternativeRock Alt Rock]], they tend to veer all over the musical spectrum, both in genre and on MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness.

!!Discography:* ''Dinosaur'' (1985)* ''You're Living All Over Me'' (1987)* ''Bug'' (1988)* ''Green Mind'' (1991)* ''Where You Been'' (1993)* ''Without a Sound'' (1994)* ''Hand It Over'' (1997)* ''Beyond'' (2007)* ''Farm'' (2009)* ''I Bet On Sky'' (2012)----!!This band provides examples of:* AirGuitar: One of the leading causes amongst indie rock fans.* BaldOfAwesome: Murph, post-reunion.* BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame: In the video for "Feel The Pain".* BreakupBreakout: After Mascis fired Barlow, he formed the successful bands Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion.* CarefulWithThatAxe: "Don't" (see below), "Little Fury Things".* ControlFreak: Mascis in TheEighties, to the point that he forced Murph to play the drum parts he created himself and limited Barlow's contributions (''You're Living All Over Me'' had only two of his songs, which got to reduced to one song with vocals on ''Bug'').** Though it seems like this is at least partially due to Barlow's perception of Mascis; later interviews show Mascis had the unspoken expectation that Barlow would contribute more, whereas Barlow felt that Mascis was the band and channeled all of his songwriting into Sebadoh.* DatingWhatDaddyHates: The video for "Watch The Corners" features a deadbeat supermarket clerk.* EarlyBirdCameo: Mascis and Barlow were in the [[HardcorePunk Hardcore]] band Deep Wound prior to Dinosaur Jr.* EpicInstrumentalOpener: "The Lung".* EpicRocking: "Plans", "Said the People", "I Don't Wanna Go There" and "Alone". Basically, the album ''Farm''. Although "Alone" is actually on ''Hand It Over''.* FakeOutFadeOut: On "Don't". Kind of.** Also, "We're Not Alone."* IAmTheBand: On Mascis' part, which basically caused the breakup of the original group.* IndecipherableLyrics* InheritedIlliteracyTitle: "Raisans".* {{Jerkass}}: J Mascis pre-reunion. He's stated to have largely mellowed out now though.* LivingEmotionalCrutch: "The Post"-->She's my post to lean on, And I just cut her down.* LoudOfWar: Their standard practice in live shows.* LyricalDissonance: A trademark of J Mascis. The band is well known for singing slacker lyrics while rocking faces off.* {{Melody}}: Especially since the original lineup reunited, they've taken a turn for the melodic.* MemeticHair: J Mascis would look very strange without the RapunzelHair.* MetalScream: Lou Barlow is surprisingly good at this. See "Just Like Heaven" and "Don't" (as previously noted, he coughed blood after they recorded it).* MultipleDemographicAppeal: Grungy alt-rock angsty indie band with some metalhead fans.* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Indie hardcore metal classic noise rock.* NewSoundAlbum: To some extent, the albums after 1989, when Lou Barlow got fired.* NoEnding: The band's cover of "Just Like Heaven" simply stops before the song gets to the final chorus.* NonAppearingTitle: "Lightning Bulb" and "Raisans".** Actually, most of You're Living All Over Me has this. Only "The Lung" and "In A Jar" avoid this trope.* PerishingAltRockVoice* PrecisionFStrike: "Freak Scene":-->Don't let me fuck up will you, cos when I need a friend it's still you.* PunBasedTitle: Since it's one of two songs on ''You're Living All Over Me'' where Lou Barlow takes a lead vocal, "Lose" most likely is a pun on "Lou's".* RockTrio* SelfTitledAlbum: ''Dinosaur'', before they were forced to change their name.* StartMyOwn: After Barlow was fired from the band, he formed the influential indie rock band Sebadoh.* SpokenWordInMusic: "Raisans" has a strange bridge where the music gets softer and a lo-fi sample of unintelligible moaning comes in -- the only part that can be made out clearly is "You're killin' me. You're killin' me. You're killin' me". Supposedly Lou Barlow was working in a mental hospital at the time, and had surreptitiously recorded one of the patients.* SurprisinglyGentleSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wMqCZTwfgE "Pond Song"]] is a jangly {{REM}} style track.** "Poledo" would be this were it not for several creepy, abrupt sound-collage sections: Aside from that, it's a quiet, acoustic-based song with Lou Barlow on lead vocals. It sounds a lot like Lou Barlow's solo acoustic project Sentridoh -- and since Barlow performed it all himself, it effectively ''is'' a Sentridoh song that ended up on a Dinosaur Jr. album.** "Flying Cloud", a ballad featuring absolutely no guitar distortion, which is a rarity for the band. * TropeCodifier: Maybe the single most direct influence on [[TheNineties 90s]] Indie Rock.* UnpluggedVersion: Though credited to J Mascis, ''Martin + Me'' could count as an unplugged album for the band -- it's a mix of Dinosaur Jr songs and {{Cover Version}}s played live by J alone, backing himself with an acoustic guitar [[note]]The "Martin" referred to in the title [[ICallItVera is the acoustic guitar in question]][[/note]].* VocalTagTeam: The first album was this between J and Lou.** To a much lesser extent, You're Living All Over Me. Lou sings on three songs, and J sings on seven.* WritingAroundTrademarks: They were originally called Dinosaur, but got sued by a supergroup called The Dinosaurs and added a "Jr." to the title. Thus, ''Dinosaur'' was originally a SelfTitledAlbum, but they kept the title the same despite changing the band name. ----